Outies and Hiccups

I figured it was about time to give my future self a little update on what's going on currently. 

First things first. 

Honey, we need a new computer! I know we can't afford one right now, but it's slow and the text cursor continues to freeze which is especially annoying when you're trying to quickly write out a blog post, because, ain't nobody got time for that! {gets me. every. time.} 

While we're on the honey-please-do-list, I'm thinking the tree branches next to the kitchen window need to be trimmed because when the wind blows it scrapes the shiz out of the screen and makes an awful sound. Not to mention the noise always freaks me out, plus it can't be good for said screen. Am I right? Wow, really rambling here, sorry.

Moving on. Let's start with the title. I'm pretty sure I have/am going to have an outie belly button for the duration of this pregnancy. And no, I don't have any pictures to show you. Gross. Now that we've got that useless piece of information out of the way, onto the latter and more exciting part of the title. Hiccups! Baby girl had a bad case of the hiccups today. One of the weirdest feelings ever! I can best describe it as a gentle  rhythmic pulse...not fast enough for a heart beat, almost like a muscle spasm. It was pretty flipping cool. Made my day. Like is this really happening?! Sometimes, scratch that, often times, I think my heart will burst with love and bewilderment at what's going on inside of my body. I will admit I felt pretty sorry for the little one...hiccups aren't exactly fun times. Thankfully they only lasted about five minutes.

He has no idea what's about to happen to his perfect little world in just a few short months. Maniacal Laugh.

So I staged his paw on my belly to take a cute picture...so what? #mammothpaw

About a month ago my mom and I fought hard to win these AMAZING homemade bread and butter pickles at the Relay for Life Auction at my work. Apparently it's common knowledge among most people that you don't come between a pregnant girl and pickles.

And wow...my belly has grown A LOT since then. I'll blame it on those pickles. ;)

Jake's summer cut. Take note, he thinks hes' a lap dog.

Lilacs lilacs lilacs. If only they could bloom all summer long. I imagine this is what heaven smells like.

I'll end this post with a look at 26 week old Sydney in utero. The horizontal stripes just really compliment the bump, wouldn't you say?

And don't be alarmed. There is much more going on in my life than what was mentioned today. Like reading baby books, setting up the nursery, landscaping, impromptu road trips to Michigan, picking ticks off your dog etc. You know, just your normal run of the mill every day stuff.

Well, I'm about to throw this computer out the window. Ah ha! solution to the problem. Broken laptop means new laptop...hmm.

Until next time.

Holly xoxo

Currently-ing

I figured it's about time I make an appearance on this here blog of mine. I've seen this little survey floating around the blog lands and thought it'd be fun! Bonus: writing this post took no creative energy on my part. Fill in the blanks? I can so do this! I can tell you're impressed.

Making: a blog post.

Cooking: poppy seed chicken casserole and browned butter noodles.
Reading: Mockingjay and Glorious Ruin: how suffering sets you free. Two books? I'm such an over achiever. In fact, I've set a goal to read one fiction and one non-fiction book a month in 2014.
Wanting: a vacation. Preferably to Bermuda (pictured below), Albania, or Montana.

Looking: at a computer/kindle/iphone screen far too often.

Playing: Pandora quick mix.
Wasting: energy on worrying. It's not good, people. I'm trying to be better.
Sewing: absolutely nothing.
Wishing: for a baby
Enjoying: hot tea, the fireplace and my book
Waiting:  for Steve to come home
Liking: staying in and being lazy

Wondering: what this year will hold
Loving: My house. Steve and I will still look at each other with goofy grins and say "I just love our house" :)
Hoping: this head ache goes away. I never get head aches!

Marveling: at how cold it's been. Especially when my nose hairs froze as I was getting into my car to leave work the other day.
Smelling: pine. Mistletoe Yankee candle to be exact.
Wearing: yoga pants, a fleece AND a sweatshirt. It's cold out there.
Following: The leader the leader the leader, we're following the leader wherever he may go....

Noticing: I am tired. I want to take a nap.
Knowing: cliches and other overused expressions are over rated. It is what it is.

Thinking: this post was harder to do than I thought!
Bookmarking: This because living abroad sounds exciting and thrilling and romantic.
Opening: a web browser tab...too literal?

Giggling: Cards Against Humanity. A game not to be played with your parents.
Feeling: emotional. I know that's vague, but it's the honest truth! Feeling too many emotions at the same time=emotional.

Only two days until Friday! And, Happy New Year!

Where I host my first ugly Christmas sweater party

Our young married couples group at church had our first {annual?} ugly sweater Christmas party. And being the proud new home owner that I am was chomping at the bit to play hostess. Due to the fact that winter decided to show up early in full force we had to cancel. Miraculously, almost everyone could still make it when we rescheduled a week later.

Now not everyone chose to participate, but most did and it was entertaining to see what ugly sweaters walked through my front door.

I'm proud to say I won ugliest sweater for the girls. I also won the Christmas movie trivia game...what can I say? Who likes loves Christmas movies and has two thumbs? This girl.

Jake won categories for ugliest turtle neck and most photogenic pup. In my book he also wins cutest dog award, but as his mom I may be partial. Also, check out my red lipstick! An ugly Christmas sweater party was the perfect opportunity to test the lipstick wearing waters. What do you think? Initially I felt absolutely ridiculous, but it grew on me.

Mom and I rocking our vests. Steve rocking his buck sweater... mullet not included.

Ugliest sweater winner for the guys goes to Justin...because it's really a women's sweater and it has shoulder pads.

Most creative sweater goes to Ben! It wasn't a category to vote for, but I say it's creative. It's still up for debate who exactly the character represents on his sweater...is it Moses? Joseph? Jake didn't care who it was supposed to be, he saw it as a toy and a tug of war match ensued between he and Ben's sweater.

Two other couples opted out of the contest, as well as my dad. Party poopers. Just kidding! I meant to take more pictures...you know how that goes. Must have been too busy playing hostess. My parents are the leaders of our young married couples group, just in case your were wondering why they were there, being that they're not in fact a 'young' married couple. ;)

I couldn't be more proud to be friends with such great couples. They are some of the kindest and most fun people I know. I'm thankful for my church family. I'm blessed to belong to such an accepting and caring body of believers.

"Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function,  so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other." Romans 12:4-5

 

Nine days until Christmas! I'm sorry, I just can't help myself. I'll be counting down on le blog from now until Christmas. It came so fast this year. Am I right?

 

The Bramble Banks

Also known as the Outer Banks.

I figured it's about time I share about our lovely family vacation to Hatteras Island, NC. It was a first time for us all. All as in all twelve of us. Two sisters and a friend flew in from Montana. All five Stayer sisters together at last. Add the two Steves, two dogs, two parents, two grand parents and a partridge in a pear tree. My mom was on cloud nine. It’s been close to a decade since we have all gone on a family vacation together. I know what you’re thinking. This could go well or poorly. It went extremely well! And I’m not being sarcastic.

And whose bright idea was it to bring the dogs anyway? This is where “bramble” comes into play. Is this a real word? I don’t know. I think it is. What I do know is the terrain is very cactus/desert like in the Outer Banks. At least where we were staying. Not at all dog friendly. There were little prickly tumbleweeds everywhere. They got stuck on the dogs paws, they stabbed us in the feet {mostly my dads feet}. It was a pain literally and figuratively speaking. My dad called them brambles. Just so we’re clear. By the end of the week we were calling them brumbles {blame the alcohol?}.

We had fun. Lots of fun. Plain and simple as that. I don’t think I’ve ever been as relaxed in my entire life as I was on this vacation. There was nothing to do, people. Nothing. Like the only touristy thing we did was go see a lighthouse. And we didn’t even climb up the stairs to take in the view because we are a} too cheap b} scared of heights c} ain't nobody got time for that.

Our day looked like this:

9 am-2 pm: rise and shine, drink coffee, eat breakfasts made by the father, drink mimosas, apply sunscreen, go the beach, drink mojitos/gin and tonics/beer/wine/whiskey and cokes, walk back to the house to make fluffernutters, go back to the beach, take a nap, talk about life, throw around a football, play catchphrase, jump in the waves.

2 pm-6pm: get tired of the beach, make more coffee, go to the pool, re-apply sunscreen, try to get dad to say the word “bramble” or "brumble", grab a beer, go in the hot tub, take a shower, drink five glasses of water, apply aloe vera, put on something nice.

6 pm-midnight: Go out to dinner, order a water, eat seafood, take pictures of each other/yourself/the scenery, go to DQ for buy one get one 99 cent blizzards, change into comfy clothes or swim suit, resume drinking alcohol of any variety and/or coffee, sit around and argue about what we should do next, play a game such as apples to apples “winner takes a shot” version, have drunk conversations about how going back to work and reality will suck, laugh until your sides hurt, go night swimming in the ocean, go in the hot tub, go to sleep to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. Insert happy sigh {here}.

Repeat for seven days. And that's all you really need to know.

And since pictures speak louder than words…

 

 ^^^this is how one does a road trip with a dog. well pardon me, jake.

^^^safety first :)

^^^vacation= mimosas every morning

^^^take me back there

^^^the man who made us breakfast. thanks dad!

 

^^^he's all mine folks!

^^^daily DQ run

^^^mojitos

 ^^^sand bar

^^^crazy crowds

^^^Leesha "book worm" Stayer

^^^yep, I'd say this is about 4 o'clock-ish

^^^"now wave to the camera..." {???}

^^^proof of night swimming. also right before I went down and camera drowns. miraculously iPhone survives.

^^^i like turtles

^^^ <3

^^^cape hatteras lighthouse

^^^harvest moon

^^^amaw & poppy

^^^the kids table

^^^mandy. always the character

^^^don't ask how long it took to start this fire

^^^i just don't know

^^^because this makes me laugh out loud. every. time.

^^^what happens at a beach fire, stays at a beach fire

^^^on the road again

^^^the end.

We are already tentatively planning a trip for next year. It was just that enjoyable.